Unplanned Miracles
by caskettruelove
Summary: What if, after her mother's murder, Kate made some poor choices and had to deal with the consequences like pregnancy. Very AU. I'm trying to keep true to the characters even if it's AU. Snippets from different important times in Kate's life with a kid and stuff. Rating may change later. I put the genre as Family and Adventure because it will be an adventure for Kate's small family.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Love has nothing to do with it

_**A/N: **This is my first fanfiction so be kind please! Reviews are appreciated but constructive criticism only please! Thanks for reading, note the AU stuff in the summary. I definitely changed things but I tried to stay true to Kate's character_

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or the characters. _**

* * *

She sat on her bathroom floor with "The Stick" on the counter above her. She had set a timer for 2 minutes which she held in her hand. Two minutes felt like two hours, the seconds passing like minutes. She hated this waiting, she hated not being able to do anything about the outcome, at the end of the two minutes either her life would change forever or she would go on with her life with regrets. She thought briefly about how she did have control over the outcome, did as in past tense. If she hadn't been an idiot and slept with the playboy college kid at some other playboy college kid's party 2 weeks ago she wouldn't be in this situation. But she had slept with him, and now she had to face the consequences.

Kate Beckett wasn't one to sleep with just anyone. While she had had a wild child phase in high school she had mellowed out some when she reached college. Unfortunately just as her wild child phase had ended a life changing event occurred and had sent her spiraling. This time it really couldn't be considered a wild child phase but instead just an unhealthy reaction to her mother's death.

It had been a month since her mother had been brutally murdered, taken from the world at the wrong time. She had transferred to NYU to be closer to her father so they could lean on each other in this horrible time. Her dad wasn't there for her; he had turned to the bottle and was pretty useless most of the time. With no one to help her she began to go to wild parties and doing anything to forget about her mother for a while. That included drinking, partying, and stupidly, sex. She couldn't believe she had done it without protection, she had taken the classes; she knew where babies came from. She just thought she was invincible enough to not get hit with the consequences. Maybe she had thought that life had already thrown so much on her that she couldn't possibly have to deal with anything like this. She honestly couldn't tell you what she had been thinking because she was pretty drunk when it happened. The only thing she did remember was who she had done it with. She knew the guy was just a playboy and would probably never settle down. He would be a horrible father. No, if she was going to do this she would do it on her own, without child support or anything. She didn't need him, she didn't need anyone. She could do it, and she would if she had to.

The timer sounded and the two minutes were up. She reluctantly got up from the floor and covered her eyes so she wouldn't see. She took a couple deep breaths. _I can do this; I'll work through it, whatever the outcome is. _She removed a couple fingers from in front of her eyes and looked down at The Stick, gaping when she saw the results. She was pregnant. She was having a baby, and she wasn't even through her sophomore year in college.

She knew it was a possibility but she had hoped, prayed, that she wasn't pregnant and missing her period was some sort of freak thing. She sank back down to the floor with The Stick in her hand, all bravery and determination to power through and to raise the kid on her own fleeing. She desperately needed to do something to keep control on the situation. She thought briefly that the test could be false, the test was sometimes wrong, right? She knew she was probably wrong and the test was probably right. Even so she got up from the floor and went to the phone in her dorm, she was still in student housing at NYU. She grabbed the phone book that lay next to the landline and flipped through trying to find the number to the hospital that wouldn't connect you to emergency people; she needed to make certain that she was pregnant. When she found it she dialed quickly and waited for someone to pick up.

"Hello, this is New York memorial Hospital how may I help you?" a cheery woman answered.

Kate tried to calm her racing heart beat before answering "Hi, this is Kate Beckett may I speak with someone about setting up a gynecologist appointment?"

"Sure just give me a moment," the cheery woman who remained nameless answered.

After a few seconds a new woman answered "Hello this is Nurse Chloe in Gynecology I understand you wanted to speak to someone about setting up an appointment?"

"Yes I did, as soon as possible," she answered quickly looking around cautiously even though she knew her roommate was out for the night.

"Alright what's your name?" she answered typing some things into the computer getting ready to put in a new appointment with one of the gynecologists.

"Kate Beckett," Kate answered.

"Would Monday at 9:00 AM work?" Chloe asked.

Kate had to think for a little bit. _Today is Friday. Monday I don't have a class until 11 AM. _"Would it be over before 10:30?" she asked.

"That depends, what do you need the appointment for?"

"I want to confirm that I'm pregnant. I took a test but I just want to be sure," she said a little defensively.

"Alright, assuming you get here on time I'd say that you would be out of here by 10:30, maybe even a little earlier," Chloe said.

"Alright, can I pay in cash?" Kate asked and bit her lip. She really didn't want her dad to find out because of some kind of confirmation he got through his insurance.

"Of course," Chloe said reassuringly.

"Thank you," Kate said with a sigh of relief.

"Sure, so see you Monday at 9?"

"Yes, thank you."

"No problem," Chloe said and hung up. Kate put the phone back and rubbed her hands over her face. She really wanted to hear something reassuring from somebody.

She thought about her mom. Her mom would be at her door within 10 minutes if she said she had something serious to talk about. No questions asked. Thinking about her mom was not a good idea, when she thought about her the tears began to fall. She ran to the twin size bed that she called hers and dove onto it, sobbing uncontrollably. She didn't have anyone to talk to. Even her roommate wouldn't want to talk about something as serious as having a baby.

Anna was a lot like Daisy from the Great Gatsby. She couldn't take it when life got to real and you had serious things to deal with. She loved going out and having a good time and she would go along with anything but her façade shattered when faced with real problems. At least that's how Kate understood Daisy and perceived Anna. She sobbed for a good hour or so until she finally fell asleep.

* * *

Her weekend was filled with shallow conversations with Anna and hasty retreats to the campus library, where she busied herself with reading textbooks and writing essays. She got her homework done on Saturday and started to read murder mystery. She saw the justice that was received in the books was comforting compared to the limited thinking and perfect categorizing her mother's murder had gotten. If only the cops had been able to think outside the box and do some actual investigating maybe the killer would have been caught and she could rest just a little easier.

She had thought about becoming a cop so that she could solve the case and get some closure but she knew that she needed to finish college before she could even think about doing that. If she changed her mind halfway through the academy she would need something to fall back on. So she remained in school and kept thoughts of being a cop in the back of her mind.

She started a book by a new author: Richard Castle. The book was titled _In Hail of Bullets _and while she could tell this was probably his first book the writing was incredible and she found herself getting lost in the story, losing hours and skipping lunch. When she finally looked up from the book it was 6 PM and the head librarian was informing all the remaining bookworms and workaholics that the library was closing and they needed to leave.

Kate got up and stretched some. She had, after all, been sitting most of the day and was somewhat stiff. She gathered her stuff and the book, knowing she was too far along to put it down now. She took it to the front desk and asked the librarian to check the book out for her. She gave the older woman her student badge and thanked her when she gave the book back to her. After sticking the book into her canvas shoulder bag she walked out of the library and into the chilly February evening. The wind blew fiercely and Kate had to put her head down and pull her jacket tighter to keep from shivering.

When she got back to her dorm she dropped her keys onto the counter and hung her bag up on a hook on the wall. She pulled the book out of the shoulder bag and smiled slightly at the memory of the twisting turning plot. She was startled by a creaking chair. She turned and saw Anna sitting at her desk with a textbook in her lap and geeky glasses on her nose. Of course she had waited to the last minute to do her work for the weekend.

"Sorry didn't mean to scare you. What's that?" Anna asked when she saw the book in Kate's hand.

"No worries. It's a book from the library I've been reading all day," Kate answered walking to her bed and putting the book on her nightstand for later.

"So you want to go shopping tomorrow morning since neither of us have a class?" Anna asked changing the subject.

"No, I've got something, I'm sorry," Kate answered quickly and went to the mini refrigerator Anna, more accurately her parents, had bought at the beginning of the semester. She grabbed a microwaveable meal from the freezer and popped it into the microwave. That would be dinner.

"What?" Anna asked. The girl is persistent, Kate could give her that.

"A doctor's appointment, nothing exciting," Kate said rather annoyed. She didn't want people prying, she liked her private life and she wasn't going to openly discuss her fears of pregnancy with her air head of a roommate.

"Okay, well I'm all done with my homework and I'm going out, see you later," Anna responded closing her textbook and throwing her glasses on her desk. Apparently she had decided that that was enough social interaction with her roommate that day. She grabbed her own keys from the counter and left. Kate didn't even bother saying good bye. She grabbed her meal from the microwave and went to her bed to eat it with a plastic fork that was one of many on the top of the microwave. Needless to say microwaveable meals were a staple of the college diet.

She grabbed _In Hail of Bullets _and read while she ate. She read for a long time, discarding the plastic dinner tray and fork when she had finished her meal. When she could barely hold her eyes open she marked her place in the book and got up to take a shower. She took a rather brief shower, only long enough to scrub and get clean and then got out. She grabbed an old t-shirt of her dad's and some new underwear from her small dresser and got back into her bed. She rolled over to go to sleep, not bothering to turn out any lights. While being a roommate with Anna Kate had developed the ability to sleep with the lights on and sleep through just about any commotion at night. This is because Anna would often come in at odd hours of the night and would often be drunk, not caring if someone was trying to sleep. Anna usually turned the lights on when she came in, so why bother to turn them off?

* * *

Kate woke up and checked the clock on her nightstand: 8:00. _Shit! _She thought as she would most likely be late for her appointment. She bolted out of her bed and rummaged through her dresser for something quick to wear. She decided on a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt covered by a sweater. The outfit wasn't exactly stylish but she didn't really care. She wasn't going for stylish, she was going for quick and appropriate; it was probably pretty chilly outside. After dressing she grabbed a jacket from one of the hooks on the wall and her canvas shoulder bag. Before leaving she grabbed _In Hail of Bullets _in case she had to wait.

As she was darting down the hallway to the stairs she quickly fastened her short hair into a ponytail, trying desperately to hide the fact that she had woken up not 10 minutes before she had left. She left the building and hailed a taxi. After telling the cabby the address she buckled up and calmed down some. She wasn't going to be as late as she thought she would. But after she relaxed she remembered the reason for the appointment and suddenly she was just as hyped up as before when she was sprinting through hallways.

If this test was positive she was definitely pregnant, and her life would definitely change. She thought about how long she could keep this from everyone. She also thought about who she would tell. She didn't really want to tell Anna, but she would probably have to, she was living with her. She probably could go without telling her dad, he wouldn't care. It would probably be another reason to drink: My daughter is a pregnant teen. There wasn't really anyone else that she would have to tell. Well, she would probably need separate housing if she had a kid, with all the other idiots who got knocked up in college.

When the cab pulled up to the sidewalk in front of the hospital she paid the cabby and got out. She walked quickly into the building and went up to the front desk to ask for directions. The cheery woman who was most likely the person who answered the phone on Friday gladly told her exactly which elevator to take and every turn she would have to make to get to the waiting lounge of the Gynecology department. She hurriedly followed the woman's instructions and got to the waiting lounge 20 minutes before her appointment, plenty of time to do the paperwork and fret.

She got checked in by Nurse Chloe and took the clipboard full of paperwork she had to do. She sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs far from anyone else in the waiting room and began her paperwork. When she spared a glance at the other patients in the room she immediately regretted it. Most of them had their significant others with them and the two that didn't had older women, presumably their mothers with them. She looked back down to the pages and continued writing.

Once she finished the paperwork she gave it back to Nurse Chloe and sat back down. Kate waited for a second with her head in her hand, ready to sit and be bored for the next 10 minutes before she remembered the book in her bag. She smiled a little and retrieved the book from the canvas bag. She began reading and, like the day before, got lost in the pages and lost track of time. She barely heard the nurse call her name to come back.

"Katherine Beckett?" the young woman called from the door that led to all of the small, private rooms. Kate looked up from her book and quickly put it away, rising and going to stand with the woman at the door. The woman didn't look much older than Kate. When she reached the door the woman greeted her "Hello Ms. Beckett I'm Nurse Parish, will you please follow me?"

"Sure," Kate said quickly and hurried after Nurse Parish. They walked into one of the small rooms and Nurse Parish instructed her to sit on the table.

"So how old are you?" Nurse Parish said trying to strike up a conversation while doing the first routine tests.

"Nineteen," Kate said nervously, not wanting a rude response about how she was so young to be thinking she was pregnant.

"Really, I'm twenty- two. I'm doing my residency here for medical school," Parish responded lightly.

"You're going to be a doctor?" Kate asked, gladly continuing the light hearted conversation.

"No way, I don't want to screw up. I'm going to be a medical examiner," Parish answered laughing a little.

"Isn't that more of a male dominate profession?" Kate asked curiously.

"So? Doesn't mean a woman can't do it, does it?" Parish answered defensively.

"No of course not, I want to be a cop, Homicide in fact," Kate said quickly.

"Wow! So are you in the academy?" Parish asked quickly changing subjects.

"No, I'm going to finish my degree in college so I have something to fall back on if I decide part of the way through the police academy that I don't want to be a cop," Kate said.

"That's smart of you," Parish said finishing all of her tests and getting materials ready to take Kate's blood. She cleaned and readied Kate's arm for the IV. "This will only pinch a little," she said before inserting the needle in the woman's arm. Kate flinched a little but then relaxed.

It didn't take too long for Parish to get enough blood for the test. When she had she bandaged Kate's arm and left promising to be back soon with the results. Kate nodded and returned to her book. Only this time she was too worried to read.

Nurse Parish returned a short while later with the results. Kate was pregnant. When she heard this information Kate put her head in her hands.

"Hey, don't worry. Everything will be alright. What about the father? Between the two of you I'm sure you'll be able to go to college and take care of the kid," Parish said attempting to be reassuring.

"No, he's not in the picture. He's a douche and he would never be a good father. I'm not even going to tell him," Kate said looking up at Parish.

"I'll get the doctor, you'll need to schedule regular appointments. Hey, why don't we go out together so we can talk? I'm sure you need to," Parish said taking Kate's hands.

"Thank you Nurse Parish, I really do," Kate said attempting to smile.

"It's Lanie, and girlfriend it's no problem. I'd love to help you, I can't imagine what I'd do in your situation," Lanie said and grabbed a pen. "Here's my number, call me later so we can go out," she said writing the number on Kate's hand.

"Okay, thanks again," Kate said smiling. Lanie smiled as well and took her stuff to go. When she had left Kate smiled to herself. Someone, a complete stranger, had offered to help her just by letting her talk. She definitely needed it and just thinking about it made her feel a lot lighter, like a weight had been lifted.

The doctor, Dr. Collins, came in and introduced herself. She walked Kate through everything that would happen in the next 9 months and helped her schedule the next appointments. Collins directed Kate to pay at the front desk and sign the receipts and she would be free to go. Kate did so and left the hospital feeling surprisingly care free. Just the thought of being able to talk to someone made her less stressed.

* * *

**_A/N: _**_I'm sorry for all of the narration, I'll try to add more dialogue in the next chapter. I know there'll be some because Lanie and Kate are meeting to talk. I'll only update once I have some sort of positive reaction to the story so review! Thanks!_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N: **_Thank you so much for your follows and reviews and all! It made me smile and inspired me to write chapter 2. I have a quick note:__I was actually planning on it being a girl but I might do a boy or maybe make her have twins, a girl and a boy or something like that. I honestly don't know because I feel like that's several chapters away. I'm not planning on spending the entire fanfic on her pregnancy; I really wanted to show what it might be like for her to have a kid/ kids in some of the important times in her life. Thank you again! Enjoy! _

**Disclaimer: Do you really think things have changed? Well just in case, I don't own Castle or the characters. **

* * *

Kate was happy to see that Anna wasn't in their dorm when she got back from her appointment. She didn't really feel like talking to her. She dropped her bag on her bed, since she wasn't going to be there long, and went into the bathroom. In her haste that morning she hadn't done much to her hair and she definitely hadn't put on any makeup. Since her mother's death she really only wore makeup for those parties she went to but today she felt an urge to wear it for class too. Besides, she was going to go out with Lanie, the nurse, later and this would save her some time this evening.

After brushing on light foundation, some mascara, and eyeliner she took her hair out of the ponytail she had done earlier and began to brush it out. She kept her hair short but it could still get out of hand. She tried to brush it for a good five minutes before giving up and redoing her ponytail. She walked out of the bathroom and went to grab her bag again. She checked the time: 10:45, not enough time to grab lunch. Well that would have to wait until after class at 11. She left her dorm, locking the door behind her.

Kate had changed her major from pre-law to Criminal Justice that semester. Her classes were interesting and a lot more fun than they had been in pre-law but still, it was school. Plus she was preoccupied with the millions of questions she had. Other than the fact that you got fat and everything ached and you ate weird food she didn't know much about pregnancy. She was also worried about how people would react to her telling them about it. Needless to say she didn't really get much out of class that day. She asked the person next to her, who was in several of her classes and was pretty nice, if she could borrow her notes. The girl, Cassidy, was happy to oblige.

After class she decided she needed food. She realized that she hadn't eaten all day and was starved. Kate went to her default, Chick-fil-A. That and Chinese was what she automatically went to when trying to find somewhere to eat out, there were just so many microwaveable meals you could stand.

She barely knew where she was going, good thing she knew her way around this area by heart. Her head swam with all of the questions and concerns she had. The doctor had given her an overview of what was to happen but not the details. She needed details. _How long is it going to be before I get the proverbial baby bump? When am I going to start eating weird stuff? How long can I keep this from everyone? _These questions went on repeat in her head while she ordered her chicken sandwich and ate.

After eating she went to the library, in search of answers. She knew she could probably find some books on pregnancy and check them out to study. She didn't know what to expect, and she hated no knowing things. When she got to the right section she rolled her eyes at the first title she saw: _What to expect when you're expecting. _No way, she was going to look for something else. She found a book titled _The First 3 Months. _She picked it up and took it to the counter. Luckily the librarian had learned not to pay close attention to the titles. The old woman, who had checked out _In Hail of Bullets _the previous night, quickly scanned the book and gave it back to Kate. Kate gave the librarian her student ID and let her scan it as well. Kate quickly shoved the book in her bag and left.

Her day job was at a local boutique as a cashier. The small shop didn't get a ton of business, which left plenty of time for Kate to read. She purposefully put the book on her lap and made sure the cover was hidden. If she didn't want her roommate to know she definitely didn't want a random customer to know.

She read the first section about conception and the first few weeks, up until morning sickness at week six or seven or so. She figured she was about 4 weeks along. It was about that long ago she had done it with the douche college guy. So she had 3 weeks before she started throwing up, fabulous. After reading about all the things that were bound to happen to her body just in the next couple of weeks she was starting to despise the guy that knocked her up.

It's not like she had hated the guy she slept with, she had liked him a little. She just didn't like him enough to sleep with him, but she had been drunk and not thinking straight. She met him that night and let him get to second base. In all honesty it was probably mostly her fault. She was the one that had gotten drunk and let him get to second base, his body had done what was natural and she hadn't been thinking well enough to use protection.

Well there was no changing it now, she had made a decision and now she had to deal with the consequences. Unfortunately, the consequences apparently included bloating, cramps and nausea in the coming weeks. And that was just the first trimester.

Kate put the book back in her bag and checked her watch. Her shift was finally over and she could leave. She notified her boss and left. When she got outside she hailed a cab. Her dorm was just a little too far to walk to. She gave the address and sat back to enjoy the ride, that was difficult though because like many taxis in New York City this one was filled with the smell of cigarettes and air fresheners, to cover up the smell of cigarettes.

She got to her dorm and immediately grabbed the phone to call Lanie, referring to the number written on her hand. The aspiring ME picked up on the second ring. "Lanie Parish," she answered, it came out like a question.

"Hey Lanie, its Kate," Kate said.

"Kate Beckett?" Lanie asked.

"Yes, is now a bad time?" Kate said nervously, she really had her heart set on talking tonight.

"No of course not, so you want to go out tonight?" Lanie asked.

"Sure, you mind some place casual, like Remy's?" Kate asked, resorting to the burger place she had eaten at a couple of times.

"Sounds great, see you in half an hour?" Lanie said.

"Yeah see you then," Kate said and hung up. She quickly touched up her makeup and her hair and got ready to go. Remy's was a good way from her dorm.

* * *

Kate got to the diner a little early and ordered some coffee, decaf. She had heard something about caffeine being bad during pregnancy so she made sure to order decaf. She sipped it and checked her watch, Lanie still had 5 minutes. She didn't want to seem too eager but she really needed to talk to someone about the worry and uncertain she felt.

She didn't have to wait long before the familiar ding of the entry alarm sounded and she saw Lanie walked through the door. Lanie immediately spotted Kate in the mostly empty diner and walked over to her booth and sat down, signaling to the waitress to bring coffee. "Decaf or regular?" the waitress asked.

"Regular," she said then looked at Kate with a friendly smile "Already switching to decaf huh?"

"Better be safe than sorry," Kate said smiling sheepishly "So thank you so much for meeting me to talk. I just have one question. Why? Why are you so willing to help me? You barely know me."

"To be honest I don't know. I guess it's because I can't imagine what I would do in your situation, I mean we're about the same age. I'm going through med school now and if this were to happen to me I don't know if I would be able to do it. I would definitely want someone there to help me. Don't you have someone you could talk to?"

Kate looked down at this. She tried to decide how much to say and how much to leave out. She had just met this woman and didn't really want to give her whole life story.

The waitress came and gave Lanie her coffee. "What would you like to eat you two?" The waitress asked and got out her pad of paper to write on.

"Hamburger and fries please," Lanie said.

"Same thank you," Kate said looking up briefly before turning her head back down to study her cup of coffee. The waitress wrote down their orders and left throwing them a smile. Lanie looked at Kate expectantly once the waitress had gone.

"Not really, my roommate isn't really there for me. She wouldn't be able to help me in this situation. My mom and dad aren't really there either and the guy that knocked me up would probably just say 'you're on your own,'" She said.

"What about the guy who knocked you up, why are you so sure he would automatically say you're on your own? Maybe he could surprise you."

"I don't think so. I just want to save myself from getting my hopes up and then getting disappointed. What I'm really worried about is how I'm going to support this kid. Because there's no way in hell I'm getting an abortion or giving the kid up for adoption." Kate said sipping her coffee.

"You have a job right?" Lanie asked.

"Yeah, but it doesn't really pay enough to support a kid. I can pay rent and buy some food and go out every now and then but I don't think it would be enough to be able to pay for all the stuff a kid needs. Just starting to think about it is making my head spin," she said putting her head in her hands.

"Hey, don't think about everything you have to do all at once, it'll over whelm you," Lanie said putting her hand on Kate's arm "Just take it one step at a time. You'll be able to do it."

"How do you know that? How can you know if I'll be able to take care of a kid _and_ go to school _and _work?" Kate asked, these were just some of the many questions she had swimming around in her head.

"Because if you take it one step at a time you can do anything," Lanie said reaching into the bag she was carrying and bringing out a pad of paper "Here, write down some of the things you think you need to do _before _you have the kid."

Kate gave her a confused look "Why?"

"If you have a written list of the things you need to do you can take it one step at a time and cross things off as you go," Lanie said shoving the pad of paper and a pen across the table to Kate.

Kate took it and tried to think of things. "Um, I think I would need separate housing since I would have a kid," she said writing it down on the pad of paper.

"Good, you don't have to worry about that until the spring, when you apply for student housing," Lanie said. Kate smiled at this, there's one thing she didn't have to worry about yet.

"I would need to get a crib and blankets and clothes and stuff," she said writing down 'get supplies.'

"Another thing you wouldn't have to worry about for a while," Lanie added.

"Get new clothing, since I'm going to get fat," Kate said with a frown. She wrote it down and gave Lanie a glare when she laughed.

"Sorry, but again something you won't have to worry about for another couple of months. See? You don't have to get much or do a ton for another couple of months. And even then you can take it as you go. Right now all you have to worry about is telling people and of course, morning sickness," Lanie said.

"Ugh," Kate groaned dramatically and put her head down on the table. Lanie laughed at her and she ended up laughing too.

The waitress arrived with their food and set it down, telling them to enjoy. They dig in and start talking to get to know each other. They talk about their favorite bands and how awkward their high school years were, Kate tells Lanie about her wild child phase and her nerd phase towards the end of high school. They also talk about which was harder, pre-med or pre-law, Lanie ended up winning saying that pre-med had you more stressed.

Kate was feeling much better after talking with Lanie. It helped her get her mind off of what was to come. She had been obsessing all day and it felt good to confide in someone and let them help you a little. She felt much better about all the stuff that came with parenthood, content to take Lanie's advice and take things one at a time and try not to let them overwhelm her.

* * *

In the next weeks she noticed all of the signs that she read about in her book: fatigue, bloating, mood swings and eventually morning sickness. Anna just thought she was on her period or something, not even noticing when she had morning sickness. She passed it off as being sick and nothing more, Sherlock Holmes she was not. This was lucky for Kate though, she was a little worried that Anna would find out on her own without Kate telling her. She really wanted to keep it a secret from everyone for as long as possible. She didn't even tell her dad.

Kate was torn when it came to telling her dad. She wanted to tell him because she felt like he had a right to know but she was also worried because he was an alcoholic and might react a little dramatically. Especially when she told him she wasn't getting married to the guy and she would raise the kid on her own. He probably would have reacted a little dramatically even if he was sober but drunk, he might get upset and start yelling. He was in no way a violent drunk; he was just a loud one. He would start yelling and lash out at Kate over the phone for things she didn't do. Things like her mother's murder, he wasn't blaming her he was just angry and had no one to vent with so he would vent with her. He would yell that it wasn't fair and that the world was out to get him.

She could only imagine what would happen if he yelled at her for something she had done. She didn't need that right now, she was still trying to forgive herself. She knew she needed to forgive herself before the kid came along or else she would blame the kid for it and lash out at him like her dad lashed out at her. And that was in no way healthy for the kid or her.

She ultimately decided that she wouldn't tell him, yet. She wasn't sure when she would, maybe when he got sober. But for now she was content to make the decision to wait, she had other things to deal with. Things like balancing morning sickness and school.

Her morning sickness subsided a little after a week and she was able to eat something without throwing up but sometimes kids brought food into class and she couldn't stand it and had to leave. Kate had always had a strong stomach and she thought that that would count for something with morning sickness but no such luck. The smell of her favorite food, Chinese, sent her reeling to the trashcan.

She called Lanie about every 3 days, usually to complain about how horrible being pregnant was. And if Kate didn't call, Lanie would. Lanie usually talked about the horrors that she saw in her work at the hospital. It was like untold horrors of the ER but in the normal hospital. She had to start keeping it as minimally graphic as possible though because of Kate's sensitive stomach.

The two became pretty close. In the three weeks since their first dinner together they went for coffee twice and lunch once. They pretty much met on a weekly basis. At their lunch/ coffee meetings they would talk about her pregnancy in more of a planning capacity than a complaining one. They talked about names a lot as well as what gender she wanted it to be. Lanie thought it would be cute if she had a little boy but Kate had her heart set on a girl.

"Well you'll find out the gender in about 8 weeks," Lanie said at their lunch that week.

"Do I really have to wait that long? Don't they do ultrasounds earlier?" Kate asked.

"They do one to determine your due date and check the heartbeat and check for abnormalities at about 11 weeks but you can't tell the gender until about 16 weeks," Lanie said smiling at Kate's impatience.

"Ugh, I wish there was some way to hurry this along."

"Are you excited to be a mom or something?"

"More like I don't want to get fat and have everything ache, oh and there's the horrible pain I'll have to go through to get the kid out of me," Kate said playing with the food on her plate.

"Trust me it will all be worth it," Lanie said reassuringly, putting her hand on Kate's arm to stop her nervous movement.

"How can you know? What if I'm horrible, what if I can't handle having a kid and screw everything up?" Kate says getting a little worked up; expressing some of the fears she's been carrying for a few weeks.

"You'll be fine, you'll have me to help you and trust me, if you could handle pre-law, you can handle a kid," Lanie joked.

Kate smiled and quipped back "I thought you said pre-med was worse than pre-law."

Lanie smiled as well. "You'll be able to do this, you'll be great, if you're stressing this much just thinking about it I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to do anything without thinking about whether it was good for the baby or not."

Kate sighed in submission "Okay, hey Lanie?"

"Yeah," Lanie asked.

"Thanks for being there for me," Kate said smiling warmly.

"Of course, what are friends for?" The girls smiled and continued their meal.

Kate left and went back to her dorm. Anna was there studying and eating. She looked up when Kate walked in.

"Hey, how was your lunch?" she asked genuinely wondering. Since Kate had 'fallen ill' a week ago she had begun to show genuine concern for Kate, which was odd.

"It was good. Studying in the middle of the day?" Kate asked a little surprised at both her question and that she was in fact studying.

"Yeah, my parents are cracking down on my grades so not as many wild parties. Are you feeling alright today? You haven't gotten sick today have you?" Anna said keeping the attention on Kate.

"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good, I think the stomach bug is subsiding some," Kate said brushing it off.

"That's good, I wouldn't want to get it," Anna said returning to the massive textbook on her lap.

_And there's the old Anna _Kate thought as she grabbed her shoulder bag and went back out for class.

* * *

Unfortunately morning sickness didn't go away but just got worse. In the three weeks before her first ultrasound Kate found herself being sick all day, never really getting rid of nausea. She threw up at least twice a day and even had to take a couple days off because she felt so bad. She tried looking for answers as to how long it would last but the answer always seemed to be 'it varies,' which pissed Kate off more than anything. Her mood swings got pretty bad too; one minute she was joking with Anna about school and the next she was giving her the silent treatment for not getting more shampoo for the bathroom. Anna, again, didn't see much to it and passed it off as PMS.

Kate was getting sick and tired of being sick and tired. She decided that at her next visit with the gynecologist she would ask the doctor if it would get any better any time soon. She did have school and work she had to attend.

Four weeks is plenty for morning sickness and she just wanted life to return to normal. She knew, though, that life was never going to be 'normal' again. She wasn't really frightened by that anymore, thanks to Lanie, but it did make her think about all the things that would be different after the next 7 months.

* * *

_**A/N: **__So it took me a while to write this because of the conversation with Lanie. I did want to address the fact that Lanie was so willing to meet with her and talk to her about her problems. I also didn't want it to seem like they became best friends all of a sudden but I think I kind of failed. Oh well, this works. You'll notice I summarized 3 weeks of the pregnancy. I didn't want to describe everything in extreme detail because that would be kind of boring. I'll hit the highlights and all because the pregnancy really isn't the main thing in the story, it'll be her life with kid/kids. I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with this chapter. I hope you liked it. Review? _


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_**A/N:**_ _I know, I know, it's been two weeks I've just been busy with school work and stuff. All of the teachers are realizing that there's only a month left of school so they're piling on the homework.__So I've gotten a couple of reviews with people saying they think Castle is the father and I can tell you right now that he definitely isn't. I don't know whether I'll ever actually name the father. I just meant him to be some guy that she barely knew and shouldn't have slept with. We will however meet Castle eventually because he's very important in her life. I just wanted to clarify that he isn't the father. I also want to say that some of you probably noticed that I changed how far along she is, in the first chapter I said something about 2 weeks and this chapter I said 4 weeks. This is because I did some research (because I want it to sound authentic) and had to change it to 4 weeks. Sorry for the long author's note. This chapter will deal with the first ultrasound and more symptoms of pregnancy. Enjoy!_

* * *

Fridays were horrible for Kate, as far as classes went. She had 5 classes she had to attend, which was different from her usual 2-3 on every other day. Because she had changed her major she had to take extra courses so that she would be able to graduate at the same time as every other student. Normally this wasn't so bad but in the last week or so she was feeling extremely tired and wasn't able to do much without wanting to take a nap. She guessed she could blame it on the pregnancy.

When she got back to her dorm room, all she wanted to do was collapse on her bed and do nothing. Unfortunately this wasn't possible; she had several tasks that she had to complete. One of which was to set up her next gynecologist appointment. She was excited to see how her child was doing and she really wanted to set up the appointment so that she had something to look forward to. There was just one problem, Anna was in the dorm. She didn't want Anna to overhear anything related to pregnancy; she still hadn't told her and wasn't planning on it until she had to because it was impossible to keep from her. So in order to be able to make the call about her gynecologist appointment she had to get Anna out of the dorm.

She tried getting her to go out for dinner or a celebratory outing for ice cream because it was the end of the week or _something_ so that she would leave and Kate could make the call. No such luck, Anna was intent on staying in for the night.

Kate gave up for the time being and went to take a shower, because she wasn't going out much at nights anymore and was ready to retire for the night at 7 o clock. She stayed in the shower and racked her brain for ways to get Anna out of the dorm. When she got out she noticed that there was no more toilet paper. She quickly checked the cabinet under the sink, which was empty too. She smiled and sighed with relief. Now she had a way to get Anna out of the house, a trip to the grocery store. It would only keep Anna out for a grand total of about 20 minutes but it was plenty of time to make a call about an appointment.

She finished drying and got into her oversized t-shirt that she slept in. When she walked out of the bathroom Anna was sitting on her bed reading some Nicholas Sparks book. If Kate had to guess, she would say that Anna had just broken up with some long-time boyfriend of hers (long-time being a month) and was drowning her sorrows by reading Nicholas Sparks and drinking an unhealthy amount of soda.

"Hey Anna, we're out of toilet paper. Could you get some?" Kate asked going to her nightstand and grabbing _Flowers for your Grave,_ the Richard Castle book she was reading.

"Isn't it your turn?" Anna asked not looking up from her book.

"No, I got some last time, it's your turn," Kate lied. Yes it was her turn but she hoped Anna would buy it and leave.

"Okay, I'll be back in 20," Anna sighed putting her book down and getting up from her bed. She went to her closet and grabbed a pair of boots and a heavy coat, March could be really windy and still a bit brisk in New York. She fastened her unruly bunch of blonde curls in a quick ponytail and left, grabbing her wallet on the way.

Kate sighed in relief and quickly went to the phone. She flipped to the page of the phone book that she had doggy-eared, the one with the number for the gynecologist. She had felt that it was safe to do this because Anna barely used the phone; if she did she usually knew the numbers by heart.

Kate dialed the number quickly, even though she had 20 minutes she wanted to do this quickly and make sure Anna wouldn't catch her. The phone rang twice before the cheery voice of the nurse from gynecology came through.

"Gynecology, how may I help you?" the nurse asked brightly.

"This is Katherine Beckett, I'm calling to set up an appointment for an ultrasound," she said probably sounding more confident than she did the first time she called for an appointment.

"Oh yes we have you here Katherine, will Monday at 9:30 work?" the nurse asked, Kate could hear keys being tapped furiously as the nurse looked through the calendar on her computer.

"Yes, that would be perfect," Kate said.

"Alright see you then!" the nurse responded cheerily and hung up. Kate hung up quickly and went back to her bed to read.

So on Monday she would get to see her child and hear its heartbeat. This made her so happy, she was getting used to the fact that she would be a mother soon. It still scared the hell out of her but none the less she was excited. If she had learned anything by reading all of the pregnancy and childcare books that she had in the past 7 weeks, it was that you could never be ready for pregnancy or childcare. No matter how much research and preparation you did things were going to happen that surprised you.

Just as she had thought Anna returned 20 minutes later with toilet paper, she threw it carelessly into the bathroom and sat down on her bed. Within 5 minutes she was fully engrossed in Nicholas Sparks and sniffling again. Kate didn't try and disturb her again. She was afraid that if she asked her if she was okay that Anna would really start sobbing, and Kate didn't want the waterworks. So she left Anna alone.

Kate read some of her textbooks for a few hours before she was too tired and her eyelids refused to stay open. Anna had since finished her Nicholas Sparks book and continued to cry, probably on what Kate liked to call a 'book hangover.' She cried herself to sleep, which was pretty sad but Kate wasn't sure she would be able to do much to comfort the poor girl. Sure she had comforted several of her girlfriends back in the day and had become adept at understanding cry talk but she didn't know enough about Anna to really be of much help. She didn't know how hard she really took breakups, for all she knew Anna could go out tomorrow morning and come back tomorrow night with a new guy.

Kate turned out the lamp on her bedside table and rolled over to go to sleep. She had decided to let Anna deal with this on her own; she had other friends that could help her tomorrow. She wouldn't be sad forever.

* * *

She spent the rest of the weekend getting her work done, not even pausing for a coffee break with Lanie. Because of morning sickness, she had missed several days of class in the last few weeks and was getting terribly behind. She spent almost every spare moment getting caught up. Of course, she would take breaks to indulge in some reading. She was beginning to love Richard Castle as an author; his books gave her a sense of justice when she was still drowning in the injustice of her mother's murder a little. She was getting better and had tried to let go a little, especially with the little person inside of her as incentive. She didn't want to go into a freefall and start neglecting to eat and drink and get enough sleep, that could harm the baby and harming the baby was the last thing she wanted to do. As much of a mistake as that night had been she didn't once hate the baby for it, how could she? The baby hadn't ever done anything wrong, hell it wasn't even out of her yet it couldn't possibly have done anything.

She was looking forward to seeing the baby; it would bring a sense of innocence and purpose to her life, something to live for and care for. This ultrasound would probably be the most amazing and the scariest thing she had ever experienced. Sure she was looking forward to it but it also meant that it was real, that it was really happening. She was able to put a little bit of distance between herself and the fact that she was going to be responsible for a human being because she didn't really have proof that the baby existed. But now she was going to see it on screen and hear its heartbeat, it would become more alive and she would have to face the fact that she would be a mother all over again. Just like when she had first gone to the doctor. That was pretty scary, she was pretty certain she would need to talk to Lanie again to get her head on straight and get everything together.

Fear aside though, this was definitely something she was looking forward to. She even set an alarm on Sunday night to make sure she wouldn't be in danger of being late. She tried to roll over and go to sleep but she was just so excited. She grabbed her book and read for at least an hour, finishing the story. After that she could finally go to sleep, because now she was on a book hangover.

On Monday morning at 8 AM Kate's alarm clock started beeping, loudly. She groaned and rolled over, turning it off. In her half sleeping state she forgot why she had set the alarm and thought it was a mistake. Her class wasn't until 11 AM; she probably wouldn't get up until 10:30. She tried to go back to sleep but found that she couldn't. She sighed and sat up, looking around the room and stretching. She felt a wave of hunger, which had come about in the last week, and smiled, suddenly remembering why she had set the alarm. She got up and went into the bathroom. She had plenty of time before she had to leave for the hospital, she could actually get ready this time.

Kate repeatedly ran a brush through her hair and finally gave up, going for the straightener. When she had straightened her hair to her satisfaction she grabbed her makeup bag. She brushed on light makeup and went to brush her teeth. She prepared the brush and started brushing, walking around her dorm and gathering an outfit and putting her stuff into her favorite canvas shoulder bag.

She finished getting ready and left early, deciding to go out for a quick breakfast. She walked around the corner to her favorite bagel place: Greenfields. She paid for it and sat down to eat, enjoying the few moments of peace and quiet she was getting. It wasn't often that she sat down to eat and wasn't doing anything but eating. Often she had her nose in a textbook or a book of some sort, always studying and reading. She had become quite the bookworm after her wild phase after her mom's murder. It wasn't that she was really hiding; it was just that reading provided stability. If she was reading a textbook she would get a good grade in her classes thus insuring a good future, if she was reading a book she could get lost in the story and forget about everything for a while. Either way she had stability.

Kate ate and checked her watch: 8:45. She got up and prepared to leave, giving a sigh. Peace and quiet was done; now time to face life again. She hailed a taxi and rode to the hospital lost in thought, she thought about names. She couldn't help it, it excited her. She wondered what she would name her kid, she wanted it to mean something, but she also wanted it to be a good name. She wouldn't name her daughter Houghton just because she was naming her after herself. She wondered what she would name it if she had a son. She didn't really have any influential men in her life; no way was she naming the kid after his dad. She could name him after her dad, she just didn't know if he deserved it. She didn't blame him for feeling sad, she knew he lost a lot, but at the same time she wished he saw what he was doing to people, not just her, that loved him. He was probably disappointing a lot more people than just her. She just didn't know what else she could name him if it was a boy. She was broken from her thoughts by the cabbie telling her that they were at the hospital. She paid and got out.

She walked into the hospital, not bothering to ask for directions this time; she knew how to get to the Gynecology department. She waved a polite hello to the cheery nurse that always answered her calls to the hospital and walked past her to the elevators. The waiting room was mostly empty, which made Kate happy, she didn't like having other people there. It just seemed awkward. Nurse Chloe checked her in and gave her more paperwork that she had to fill out. She thought the pages upon pages that she had filled out last time would be enough but apparently not. She sat down to complete the paper work, taking her time so she would have less time to think before the appointment. It seemed that every time she started thinking about the baby that annoying fear turned up, and she hated fear.

The paper work didn't take long and soon she was sitting down again in the extremely uncomfortable chairs, she didn't remember them being _this _uncomfortable. Kate hated waiting; she'd rather be right on time than have time to wait. She often wished that the world would move at her speed. She thought about her book and dug in her bag, unfortunately she had forgotten to pack it. Now she had time to wait, and think.

With each passing minute she became increasingly nervous. She had seen Marley and Me; she knew bad things could happen. She really didn't want that to happen, she was already getting excited about having a baby, even if it did scare her. She needed everything to be okay.

It came as a huge relief when Lanie opened the door that led to the private rooms and called "Kate." She got up and followed her back to a room.

"Hey Lanie," she said with a sigh of relief. If she needed anything right now it was a friend to go through this ultrasound with.

"Hey, how's life been? I haven't seen you in a week or so," Lanie said as they got to the room and Kate hopped up on the bed.

"Busy, I've been trying to catch up on work I've missed. Did you know I've missed 3 days of class in the last 2 weeks?" Kate said incredulously.

"Wow, that sucks, are you feeling any better since we last spoke?" Lanie asked.

"Yeah somewhat, now I'm not sick I'm just tired and hungry, like really tired and hungry. I see you're still in gynecology for your residency," Kate said taking the focus off of her as Lanie did the routine tests, blood pressure and such.

"Yeah, I only have a few more months of residency and then the school year will be out," Lanie said excitedly. She was looking forward to being a medical examiner more than doing her residency in gynecology.

"Will you be able to become a medical examiner after this?" Kate asked, happy to continue the conversation about Lanie.

"No, I still have one more year of medical school. But after that I'll be free to start cutting open dead people," Lanie gave a little laugh at this and Kate laughed along with her. "Alright now please lay back so we can start the ultrasound." Kate complied and lifted up her shirt, giving Lanie access to her lower abdomen. "This will be a little cool," Lanie said robotically, God knows how many times a day she did this. She squirted some of the gel onto Kate's lower abdomen and got the probe that was used to rub along the patient's stomach and get the picture. "Are you ready?" Lanie asked standing with the probe over Kate's stomach ready to begin. Kate nodded and gave her a smile. Lanie rubbed the probe along her stomach and adjusted dials on the machine so that Kate could hear the heartbeat. Soon there was an image on the screen and Kate gasped at what she saw.

"Please tell me that's not real," Kate said astonished.

"Nope, it's for real," Lanie said with a huge smile.

"Two? I was just wrapping my head around the fact that I was going to have one!" Kate exclaimed.

"Kate, you're having twins," Lanie said still smiling.

"Lanie, I don't know that I can handle twins all by myself."

"Sure you can, besides you're not alone. You have me, I'm not going anywhere," Lanie said moving the probe and doing the things the doctor required.

Kate was astonished but still managed to smile when she heard the babies' heartbeats and saw them moving. When she saw them moving she relaxed, she began thinking that no matter what she would be able to handle it. She would handle it so her _babies _would grow up well. She was having twins. She would have two little miracles, two little bundles of innocence. And just like the fact that she was having a baby at all, it scared her and excited her. She wanted to be a mother. She couldn't wait to be a mother.

She tried to calm herself; she was still freaking out a little. Even if she was happy to be becoming a mother and to be having twins it still freaked her out a bit. Kate was ever the control freak, always wanting control over what happened and babies were the kings (and queens) of the unexpected and unpredictable. Kate hated unpredictable. Lanie kept telling her that everything would be alright. Everything will turn out alright.

The doctor, Dr. Collins, came in and checked the ultrasound for herself. She handed Kate a towel and smiled "Congratulations," she said. Kate took the towel and rubbed her stomach clean of any gel. She gave a small smile, all she could muster. Her head was spinning at the thought of having twins.

"Now Kate, I know it must seem crazy to have twins. And I know you must be driving yourself mad worrying about being able to handle it but trust me, every parent of twins felt the same way and they always turned out fine. Life never gives you anything you can't handle," Dr. Collins said reassuringly.

Kate looked up stunned at the use of one of her mom's favorite sayings. She knew it was probably a common saying but it still stunned her. She let Dr. Collins' words soak in before voicing her one worry "Were any of those parents going to raise the twins on their own?"

"Yes, me," Dr. Collins said and waited for Kate to look up before continuing "I had twin boys when I was a freshman in college and I raised them on my own. That's what inspired me to become a gynecologist. I wanted to help other women give birth."

"How, how did you do it?" Kate asked.

"It took a lot of hard work and faith. Faith in myself; you never know what you're capable of until you are tested to the limits, and believe me I was," Dr. Collins said.

"Thank you Dr. Collins. Is there anything I'll have to do differently now that I know I'm having twins?" Kate asked.

"Nope, just keep doing what you've been doing, they look great. Do you want a picture?" Dr. Collins asked returning her attention to the machine.

"Sure, when do I have to come back in?" Kate asked standing up off of the bed.

"When you're about 4 and a half months, or 18 weeks," Dr. Collins said taking the small image off of the printer and handing it to Kate.

"Thank you," Kate said taking it and looking down at it with a smile. Lanie touched her lightly on the arm. Kate looked up and smiled, taking her shoulder bag which Lanie had picked up for her.

Dr. Collins left the room and went to some other appointment, leaving Kate and Lanie alone. "Look I've got to work the rest of the day but I'll call you later so we can talk if you need to."

"Okay, thank you Lanie," Kate said shouldering her bag and going to leave the room.

"No problem," Lanie said gathering her materials and following Kate out.

Kate went to the front desk and paid for the visit. She signed all of the necessary forms and was on her way. She left the hospital and went back to her dorm to prepare for her class. When she arrived she went to her nightstand and picked up the book that she had forgotten this morning. She flipped to the page she was on and undid the doggy-ear, putting the ultrasound photo in to hold her place. She figured that way there was less of a chance for Anna to find it and she would know where it was. She put the book into her bag and went for her textbooks.

She left for class and tried to concentrate on what they had been learning about, but that was proving to be quite difficult. She was just too excited about having twins. She felt like a teenager, getting so excited over the thought of a baby, or in this case babies, but she couldn't help it. As scared as the thought of having twins made her she was excited, she couldn't wait.

* * *

_**A/N: **__So first off Greenfields is a bagel place where I live and I love it so I thought I'd put it in there. Also the 'book hangover' actually came from a friend of mine. It's basically what probably happened to people after reading The Fault in Our Stars or Allegiant or other books. I figured Nicholas Sparks was appropriate after a breakup. Also for those of you who are nitpicky about timelines I am aware that Marley and Me, the book even, didn't come out until 2005 and this is 1999 but I needed something in there about miscarriage and that's the first thing that came to mind. I had originally planned to put both ultrasounds in this chapter but it kind of got away from me. I hope you like it. I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with it. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_**A/N: **__Oh God, it's been what like two months? So sorry this is taking so long, school was winding down and I was crewing for the middle school musical and that took up a lot of time, so it's taking a while to write. Plus I'm having trouble deciding what parts to leave out and which parts to include. _

_On another note who died during For Better or For Worse? I did! I don't want to wait FOUR MONTHS to find out what happened. Technically now it's 3 months and 19 days, yes I have a countdown going. Anyway, on to the story:_

* * *

Kate was busy for the next several months as the school year came to a close. She was very happy it ended when it did because she was starting to show. She noticed that she was often more tired than usual and she felt cramped and bloated. All of this made it difficult to focus at times and she had a hard time finding enough energy to study and do her work. This made for a crummy year. She was happy when summer came. That meant that she only had to go to work and sleep.

She was surprised that Anna didn't figure it out. Kate tried to cover up her baby bump but it was pretty difficult. She didn't have enough loose shirts and stretchy pants. She hated the thought of going to get maternity clothes but she knew it was coming. Anna didn't even notice really. Kate was rather proud of the way she was keeping things to herself.

The ultrasound from several months ago was kept in whatever book she was reading at the time and stayed hidden from Anna. She knew not to mess with Kate's stuff, she had the same policy. They weren't even really friends and their stuff was private. So as long as Kate kept out of her stuff, Anna would keep out of Kate's.

The year ended and she and Anna said goodbye. She packed up her stuff and happily bid farewell to the dimly lit, overly small dorm room. She had made arrangements to stay with Lanie until she found an apartment of her own or until the school year started again and she was housed in a dorm that was made for student parents. The latter is what would probably happen. She wanted to save her money to pay for everything the twins would require, starting with the hospital bills. Those alone would probably account for 2-3 months' rent of an average apartment and Lanie agreed her money was best spent taking care of the twins, as long as Kate didn't mind sleeping on the couch.

Kate still kept a running list of 'To do's' that she had to get done before the twins were born, most of which were more last minute type of things, but now that the school year was over she was able to get one of them done. Regardless of where she stayed over the summer she would definitely be registering for a student parent dorm room for the next year. So now was the time to go and register.

She walked, which she could thankfully still do a good bit of, to the main office building for the university and went for the housing department. They kept a stack of dorm applications on the outside of their door, stuck behind half of a file folder taped to the door. The application was to be filled out, signed by a parent if you weren't over 18, and mailed back to the university housing department. Kate took one and looked it over, making sure the type of housing was just a box you had to check and not something you had to take up with someone official. Thankfully there was a list of choices and you could write your preference down in one of the lines on the form. Kate tucked the form into her canvas bag and walked back to Lanie's.

She quickly filled out the form and mailed it to the housing department, one thing off of her To Do list. It gave her a sense of accomplishment and calmness to check something off of that list. It meant that she had greater control over the situation. The more she could do to prepare, the more she knew she would be more at ease with having twins.

The concept of having twins had scared her to death at first, but she was starting to accept it and try and prepare as much as possible for it. She knew it would be extremely difficult but she also knew that her mother was right in saying that "life never gave you anything you can't handle." It made her a lot more comfortable when the doctor used the phrase after the ultrasound. She liked Dr. Collins, especially because she was a single mother with twins. She felt like she could relate to her because they had something in common.

When she returned to the apartment from mailing the housing form Kate went to the fridge. Now four months pregnant she had begun to eat a lot more and had a lot of weird cravings. Never before had she enjoyed hot sauce or any form of Mexican food but Lanie had begun to complain because they were having it most nights of the week. Kate had conceded to only having it at lunch so Lanie wouldn't have to suffer through it. Another thing she had begun to crave was omelets, omelets with anything in them from vegetables to chocolate and marshmallows. She usually got up before Lanie and made her breakfast so as not to receive disgusted glances from Lanie, she got enough of that at lunch when she made her turkey and ketchup sandwiches. Okay so her cravings were pretty weird but come on, she was _pregnant _and if she wanted a s'morelet for breakfast and a turkey and ketchup sandwich for lunch she should be able to make it and eat it without getting weird looks from her friend.

All in all Lanie had been amazing about letting her live there and helping her with all of the weird pregnancy stuff including but not limited to: heartburn, congestion, swollen ankles, increased appetite, and lower abdomen aches. Second trimester was not treating Kate well and Lanie was always there with tums and an insanely comfortable couch. Lanie was probably one of the best friends that Kate had had. It wasn't just that she helped her with pregnancy and gave her a place to live, she also helped her get out and do things like dinner and shopping, she was always there to talk, she went on insanely slow and boring walks with Kate, and she tried to get her to date. Of course Kate denied attempts at blind dates saying that no guy would be interested in a girl knocked up with twins.

Kate had yet to tell her dad, she now figured that she would wait until they were born so she didn't have a fight with him about abortion. Of course when they were born there would be opportunity for a fight about adoption but she figured she could win that one with "I'm the one who gave birth to these miracles and I'm keeping them. I did not go through all of that pain to give them away and I'm already too attached." She figured her dad wouldn't have a good comeback for that one.

Back to present day Kate made herself a midmorning snack of cheese and crackers, one of her favorite elevensies meals. She broke her meals and snacks up much the same way the hobbits did in "The Lord of the Rings": First Breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, lunch, afternoon tea (which never contained tea per doctor's orders), and dinner. She was eating so much she was surprised that the amount of weight she had gained was not that much.

She ate her cheese and crackers and began to pack a lunch for work. She was still working at the store, and it was a good thing too, she had to pay for this extra food somehow. Plus she would have to pay rent for student housing in the fall, and of course there was the twin infant situation, all of which would require steady income from a job. She considered looking for a better paying job but wasn't sure she would find one that would allow a pregnant woman to work. The manager at the store she was working at now was weary as it was about letting her work there when she was four months pregnant (she had to tell her, she was Kate's boss) but Kate had won her over saying she didn't walk around that much anyway and she was feeling better energized in this second trimester. So she continued to go to work and earn money, which she saved as much as possible.

Work was pretty boring as usual; she sat at the cash register reading until a rare customer came in and bought something. The customer rate was about one every hour and a half. Kate wasn't sure how the store was staying in business but it was, and she was still employed. She was now reading "A Rose for Ever After," Castle's eighth book. She was running out of published books of Castle's to read, which was a problem, she read a lot. Maybe she would take up reading Patterson or Cannell but for some reason she felt like that would be cheating, even though there was no tangible friendship or anything with Castle, from the tabloids he seemed like a really douchy playboy who Kate would never get along with, but still he was a hell of a writer. And reading another writer's book felt like cheating. So maybe when she finished with Castle's books she would just reread them.

When Kate got home from work Lanie was there with Chinese. "Sit down girl! I haven't talked to you in forever," she said waving her over with a chopstick.

"It was last night!" Kate exclaimed taking her seat at Lanie's kitchen table and grabbing a carton of Moo Shu pork.

"Still, how was your day?" Lanie asked.

"Pretty boring, but I did get my application for student housing mailed so I can check that off of my list," Kate said smiling and making a check sign in the air with her chopstick.

"That's good! I think I can help you get something else checked off of your list this weekend," Lanie said avoiding eye contact.

"What?" Kate asked warily.

"I thought maybe we could go maternity shopping," Lanie said and Kate's eyes immediately got wide.

"Lanie no, come on I don't want to go maternity shopping!" Kate exclaimed. "It will be awkward!"

"Kate it will not be awkward. Don't think of it as maternity shopping, think of it as just regular shopping," Lanie tried to reason.

"Am I really big enough to start maternity shopping?" Kate said sitting back and looking down at her stomach, rubbing her hand over it instinctively.

"Well you will be soon, plus you're almost far enough along to need weekly doctor visits and the next ultrasound."

"Why do I need weekly visits?" Kate asked.

"They'll just run some tests to check the baby's health and do some routine stuff to check your health, it's no big deal," Lanie told her waving her hand as if waving off any anxiety Kate was feeling.

"So I'll get to know the gender of the twins in the next couple of weeks?" Kate asked hopefully, momentarily assured that the tests were no big deal.

"Yep, you should probably set up the appointment soon. You should start feeling them kick soon too. What gender do you think they are?" Lanie asked with a girlish excitement.

"I don't know. I don't even know what I want them to be. Probably not both boys, that would be crazy, I could live with two girls, or a girl and a boy," Kate said smiling and rubbing her stomach.

"I hope its two little girls! You could dress them the same and give them names that start with the same letter and—"

"No! I am not going to dress them the same, that would be too cliché," Kate interrupted. "The only way I would dress them the same would be if they were taking a formal picture. I would give them names that start with the same letter though."

"Seriously? You wouldn't even dress them the same for like their first day of school or their birthday?" Lanie asked incredulously.

"No! Are you kidding they would hate it! What if in every picture of their childhood they were dressed in matching dresses or outfits? They would ask if they ever dressed differently like individuals. No way, only occasionally," Kate said with a sense of finality.

"Whatever, anyway, tomorrow you and I are going maternity shopping and I don't want to hear any complaining," Lanie said grabbing her empty cartons and taking them to the trash.

"Ugh," Kate groaned and threw her head back. She smiled at Lanie's eye roll and went back to eating. Lanie went to the bathroom, presumably to take a bath. They spent the rest of the evening quietly, reading and watching cheesy game shows.

* * *

The next day she was officially five months pregnant and, in the eyes of Lanie, eligible to shop for maternity clothes. They went to the nearest department store and went straight for the maternity section. The selection was surprisingly good. The dresses weren't all that different from regular ones, just with added fabric around the stomach and the tops and pants were pretty normal as well. They even had lingerie, not that Kate was going to buy any.

"Hey Kate," Lanie said from behind drawing out her name.

"What?" Kate said turning around. "Oh, no! No Lanie!" Kate exclaimed when she saw what Lanie was holding. It was a set of lingerie with black lace. "I'm not even seeing anyone right now, why should I waste money on that?"

"I know I'm just messing with you. You know that's your fault by the way. You could be seeing someone if you would just let me set you up or go out on your own," Lanie said with a laugh.

"Lanie we've been through this," Kate started.

"I know I know, no one will stick around when you have newborns and stuff but come on, don't you want something even if it's temporary?"

"I'm perfectly fine being on my own, living with my best friend," Kate said walking to a different rack and leaving Lanie to put the lingerie back on the rack.

Kate had an armful of clothing and went with Lanie to the try on rooms. When she came out in front of the mirror a woman approached smiling.

"How far along are you?" She asked cheerily.

"5 months as of today," Kate said smiling back.

"May I feel? Does it kick?" She asked moving closer.

"Um, no they don't yet but my friend the nurse says they will soon," Kate said pointing to Lanie and putting an almost protective hand on her stomach. She felt something almost like a cricket running across her stomach and froze. She thought maybe it was food digesting until she felt it again. "Wait Lanie I think they're kicking! Oh my god come feel!"

Lanie came and put a hand where Kate instructed and immediately smiled up at her saying "That's amazing! Wow!"

"May I?" The woman asked.

"Sure," Kate said.

The woman put her hand on Kate's stomach and smiled. She thanked Kate saying she looked great and wishing her good luck on the rest of her pregnancy and walked away. After she was gone Kate turned to Lanie "Why would someone's, a complete stranger might I add, immediate reaction to me saying I'm 5 months pregnant be 'can I feel your stomach?'"

"Relax and get used to it, it will happen more often now that you're showing," Lanie said with a laugh.

Kate rolled her eyes and went back into the try on room to try on other stuff. All of it fit but Kate still didn't like the way she looked much. "I wish there was maternity stuff that slimmed you, I still look fat."

"Well if you think you're fat now just wait until you're nine months and ready to have them any day."

"You're not helping," Kate said with a glare. Lanie just laughed.

They ended up getting two dresses for formal occasions, 5 tops that she could rotate through, and 3 pairs of pants, two formal and one pair of casual jeans. It was sparse but it was all that she could afford, and all she really needed because she didn't plan on being pregnant again anytime soon. It was a wonderful feeling knowing that you were going to give birth to two human beings but she would not be having careless sex with anyone else for a long time. She probably wouldn't have sex with anyone unless it was serious; she didn't want to risk giving the twins a brother or sister without a father. She knew that they would already be missing out not having a father around and she didn't want them to be ruined by having multiple potential father figures around without any of them staying. She had already decided not to bring her romantic interests around the twins until she knew it was serious. Of course she was probably overthinking it but hey, she was the queen of overthinking things.

They paid and went home, stopping to get a midmorning snack for Kate on the way of course. When they got home Kate put away her clothes and sat on the couch with her hands on her stomach, enjoying feeling the babies kick. She smiled to herself and relaxed. Lanie had a few meetings for counseling on the classes she should take so she left right after they got back. Kate spent the afternoon sitting on the couch absentmindedly watching some cop show where the partners were too stubborn to admit their feelings and were shamelessly flirting while the other characters made jokes about them and their relationship without them really understanding. She didn't really follow the story line because she was too overjoyed feeling her twins kick. This made her happier than she could've imagined it making her feel. It got her excited. For the first time she wasn't overwhelmed at all, she was overjoyed.

* * *

_**A/N: **__So I'm a big nerd and I had to include the stuff about Hobbit meals from the Lord of the Rings. Also the inspiration for the scene with the woman wanting to feel Kate's stomach came from one in Charmed which was one of my favorite shows for a while. As for the cop show it's a little bit based on Caskett's relationship from the first 4 seasons. Hope you enjoy it, sorry for the long wait again. It's summer so I should be able to write more. _


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_**A/N: **__Hey so now that it's summer I should be able to update more often, hopefully at least once a week but maybe more than once a week. It just depends on when I feel like writing. I know there was a lot of narration in the last chapter but this one will have the second gender ultrasound and blood tests (to check for abnormalities in the babies) and other stuff so it should have more dialogue. But there was some girl talk and stuff last chapter. I hope you weren't too bored. I guess incorporating dialogue into stories is difficult for me but I'll definitely try._

* * *

"Are you ready to go yet Kate?" Lanie called from the living room in her apartment. Kate was getting ready for her doctor's appointment in the bedroom and was taking forever.

"Yeah I am, this annoying back pain is just slowing me down," Kate said as she emerged from the room.

"Well, are you excited to find out the gender of your twins?" Lanie asked excitedly.

"Yes, it means I won't have to carry them around inside of me much longer. I mean the kicking is really great but the back pain isn't. I need to do stuff but I can't when my back will never stop aching and my ankles are swollen and every so often I get leg cramps," Kate complained as she and Lanie left her apartment and started for the elevator.

"Oh relax, all of that will go away in about four months," Lanie said.

"Yeah, but come on four months," Kate said with a smile.

"Oh forget it you're making it worse by complaining. Anyway I don't know about you but I'm excited to find out the gender of your twins, and I'm not even the mother!"

"Yes I am, I don't really have a preference but I can't wait to start preparing. Buying clothes and stuff, although I can't exactly paint a nursery, there's a policy against painting rooms in the university housing."

"Well buying clothes is fun," Lanie said raising her hand to hail a taxi.

"Yeah, hey speaking of doctor visits and all, am I really going to have to go every week?" Kate asked.

"Yes you will," Lanie answered.

"Why?"

"They just want to check your weight and blood pressure and run tests to make sure the babies are okay. It's standard," Lanie explained.

"Will they at least try to make them the same time every week?"

"Yes, they'll try."

They rode the rest of the way to the hospital mostly in silence. When they got there they paid the cabbie and went into the hospital. Lanie led them up to the gynecology department. Kate went straight for the window to get checked in while Lanie found them a couple of seats.

"Hey thanks for coming with me by the way, even if you don't work here anymore," Kate said when she came back from the window.

"No problem, that's what friends are for right?" Lanie said nudging Kate in the shoulder.

The new nurse that came and got Kate and Lanie was pretty green. She said Kate's name quietly at first and then louder once she cleared her throat. She said everything by the script and almost led them to the wrong room. Lanie went around to the nurse stations greeting and hugging her old friends from the department. It was as if she hadn't seen them in years but it had only been a month. The new nurse was a little surprised by this but attempted to not let it faze her. When they finally got to the room after Lanie's reunion with her old nurse friends the nurse started to go through the tests. Lanie constantly had to correct her and the nurse was highly embarrassed. When she attempted to do the IV for the blood sample Kate flinched because she was doing it incorrectly and the nurse looked with a panicked expression to Lanie.

"Here you want me to help?" Lanie asked before automatically taking over.

"Yes please. It's my first day and they only gave us one tutorial on how to do these."

"Don't worry I asked some of the older nurses to do it for me at least 5 times until I got it down and it just takes practice," she said donning gloves and taking up the equipment. She tied a rubber band around Kate's upper arm and started the process of inserting an IV. She dictated instructions slowly to the young nurse at each step. When she had the blood sample she turned to the other nurse saying "Here you can do this part."

"Thank you," the nurse, Nurse Stefanie, said taking over and getting Kate cleaned up. She went through the other tests and then got Kate set up for the ultrasound. It took a few minutes but they got the picture up on the screen and Nurse Stefanie began to take the necessary pictures. Lanie looked attentively at the screen for a few minutes and then looked to Kate with a smile.

"I've seen enough of these to guess the gender. But I'm not giving it away," Lanie said.

"Lanie come on! Why? Can't you just tell me?" Kate said exasperated.

"The doctor will tell you for sure. I could be wrong," Lanie said laughing at Kate's impatience.

Stefanie the nurse took the rest of the pictures that she had to and then left to get them to the doctor. Lanie assured Kate that the doctor shouldn't take too long but Kate was pretty impatient. The doctor took max 5 minutes but it felt like an eternity to Kate.

"Well I looked it over and it looks like you're having a boy and a girl!" Dr. Collins said when she came into the room.

"Oh that's great!" Kate said.

"Now I'm just going to listen to the heartbeats and make sure everything is going good. According to the ultrasound they're growing well and after the tests we run on the blood sample we'll know there aren't any abnormalities."

"Abnormalities like what," Kate asked worriedly.

"Things like Down syndrome and such but hey, that's only an occasional thing. Only about one in every 700 babies is born with Down syndrome. There's no need to worry. The tests are just precautionary," the doctor assured like she probably had many times before.

"Okay," Kate said letting out a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

"Would you like to get a printout of the ultrasound?" Dr. Collins asked going over to the machine.

"Sure I need a new bookmark," Kate said with a smile. At Dr. Collin's confused expression Kate explained "I keep the ultrasound picture in whatever book I'm reading."

"She reads a ton. Half of the boxes from her dorm were filled with books," Lanie said jokingly.

"Not half, maybe one fourth," Kate said defensively.

"Uhuh," Lanie said with a smile.

"Alright here you are, your new bookmark," Dr. Collins said handing Kate the picture. Kate tucked it in the bag she had with her and got up to go. "Oh and if you could just stop by the front desk to pay, of course, and to set up your weekly visits? We should have the results from the tests back next week."

"Alright, thanks," Kate said waving on her way out. She stopped by the front desk as asked and got everything set up, her appointments were to be every Friday at 11 AM. She and Lanie made their way back to the street and hailed a cab home. Of course Lanie wanted to go shopping for baby stuff immediately.

"What you said you were excited to go shopping!" Lanie defended when Kate opposed the idea.

"Not immediately. I have four months to go shopping," Kate said.

"I thought you were all about being prepared and stuff you control freak. Besides in about two and a half months you won't be able to stay on your feet long enough to go shopping, might as well get it out of the way now."

"I am a control freak but what happens to the stuff we buy over the next four months? It'll just sit in boxes all over the apartment waiting. Let's at least wait another month before we go out to raid the nearest Babies R Us."

"Fine but whenever you're ready to go baby shopping, I'm coming with you," Lanie ordered.

"Fine with me," Kate said with a roll of her eyes.

They got home and Kate got ready to go to work, making sure to pack her book along with her lunch and afternoon snack. She knew it would be boring as usual and would need something to do. She went to work and read about a quarter of "A Rose for Ever After." Kate counted at most 7 customers that came in that day. She got home and got ready to prop her feet up with some Mexican. Lanie had approved because it was a day to celebrate: she now knew the gender of her twins. She got set up on the couch and started to relax turning on the TV to Jeopardy. She liked to test her knowledge and found Jeopardy more fun to watch than Wheel of Fortune, she didn't need Vanna White to rub it in that she had a slim figure and Kate didn't.

Lanie came in with the food and sat down on the couch next to Kate. "Jeopardy again? Come on, I know you know all of the answers there's no need to rub it in!" Lanie said setting the food on the coffee table and digging in.

"Would you rather watch this or Make a Deal? Or maybe you'd prefer The Price is Right? Come on this is more entertaining."

"Alright I'll watch Jeopardy tonight with you if you'll watch Shop till You Drop with me tomorrow," Lanie bargained.

"Deal," Kate said grabbing a burrito from the bag of food on the coffee table.

"So have you ever thought about names? Now that you know you'll have a boy _and _a girl you'll need names for both genders."

"I've thought about it before. I might name them after my parents but call them different names. Like instead of Johanna just call her Jo and instead of Jim call the boy James," Kate said before calling out the answer to one of the questions right as a contestant buzzed in and answered. Lanie gave her a glare.

"Don't you think that's a little cliché? I mean of all of the names you name them after your parents? Plus didn't you say once that your dad wasn't exactly Grandpa Material? So why would it make sense to name your son after him?"

"Well I don't have many other influential people in my life. And yes my dad isn't Grandpa Material now but he was a great father when I was growing up. The way he acts now is just a product of his grief over my mother's death," Kate explained. "And before you ask I am not going to call her Lanie. I would probably include that as her middle name but if I called her Lanie it would just get too confusing."

"I actually wasn't but that's so sweet! Anyway what about your dad? Haven't you told him you're pregnant yet?" Lanie asked fixing her with a classic look that Kate had come to know as the 'you can run but you can't hide you will answer my nosy but annoyingly on point questions' look. Kate avoided eye contact and focused on eating her burrito. "You haven't told him yet!?" Lanie exclaimed when she recognized Kate's evasive actions.

"Well can you blame me? He probably talks to the damn bartender more than he talks to his only daughter! I mean I could call him but I know that his phone makes outgoing calls just as well as it receives calls! What if I tell him and he doesn't ever speak to me again or worse, what if I tell him and he shows up to the hospital drunk when I have the twins. I don't want him to be around them when he's drunk. Do you know how damaging it can be to kids to have them around alcoholic adults?" Kate mused.

"But what if you tell him and the idea of grandkids is enough for him to sober up huh?" Lanie asked, another one of those annoyingly on point questions.

"But what if the fact that the father isn't around drives him to drink more?" Kate asks sounding almost like the teenager she is.

"How would that cause him to drink more?"

"Because he's worried about me, whenever he's worried he drinks," Kate said still sounding like a kid.

"Look you can't just have his grandkids and not tell him," Lanie reasoned.

"Sure I can. I can just call him every so often and only tell him if he's sober," Kate countered.

"What happens when they're five years old and they haven't met their Grandpa because you don't want to risk exposing them to the real world? I mean at some point they'd be exposed to alcoholics."

"But I don't want him around them if he's drunk. Forget exposing them to alcoholism what if the only memory they have of their grandpa from childhood is a clumsy guy that slurs his words, has random outbursts of inexplicable anger, takes more naps than they do, and wears sun glasses to hide his bloodshot eyes? That's not fair. I want them to have a real grandfather and that means one that is sober."

"Alright I guess that's fair. But you'll have to tell him eventually," Lanie said with a sense of finality.

"I know." Kate said choking down the last of her burrito.

"But seriously you can't just name them after your parents. You have to be original. What about Skylar or something? Maybe Richard for the boy, name him after your favorite author?" Lanie teased.

"No that's ridiculous. I'm not naming my son after my favorite author. Would it really be so bad to name them after my parents if I'm not going to call them by the same names?"

"Actually a lot of people name their kids after favorite actors, characters, or authors. It wouldn't be that strange."

"Well I could always call him Richard Castle's middle name, Edgar," Kate said with a smile.

"No, I will not permit you to name your son Edgar."

"Hey I could call him Eddie that's not bad," Kate said. Lanie just glared at her, "Hey I had a neighbor named Eddie, he was really sweet, it's a good name."

"See that has some importance to you, you should pick the names based on importance. I know your parents are important to you but don't you have other people that have been influential on your life?"

"Well there are teachers but that would be kind of strange. I could name them Jean Louise and Jem from To Kill a Mockingbird."

"Are you really going to resort to characters in books?" Lanie asked.

"Well I just can't think of anyone that's been influential enough to warrant me naming my kids after them. The only people I can think of that deserve that are my parents, and of course the middle name from the best friend anyone could ask for," Kate said nudging Lanie in the shoulder.

Lanie smiled at that and said "So you really can't think of anyone?"

"No I really can't. I guess I could come up with names but would it really be that cliché to name them after my parents?" Kate asked.

"No I guess not. So it's settled, you're going to name them after your parents?"

"James and Jo, it sounds good. I like it, let's just hope they'll like it," Kate said looking down at her growing stomach and rubbing it. Suddenly she felt the heartburn set in and gave a grunt of discomfort.

"I'll grab the tums," Lanie said picking up the trash from their meal and heading for the kitchen.

"Thanks Lanie," Kate said shifting to try and ease her discomfort. "Maybe Mexican wasn't such a good idea while I still have heartburn."

"Uhuh," Lanie said walking back to the couch with two tums in her palm. She handed them to Kate and sat back down. They continued to watch Jeopardy, Kate adding in answers every now and then, even Lanie was able to answer some of the medical based questions.

* * *

**_2 Months later_**

For the thousandth time I'm way too busy to go baby clothes shopping!" Kate said waddling more than walking into the kitchen.

"Classes have been going on for two weeks how can you already be too busy?" Lanie said pouring herself a cup of coffee and rushing over to the flip the bacon she had cooking in the frying pan.

"I told you I'm still having to take extra classes because I switched majors, plus doing the reading and other work I have to do takes longer because I have to take brakes every now and then. I'm finding it increasingly difficult to focus now that Pele and Beckham have discovered their new favorite pastime, kicking Mommy," Kate tried to reason as she sat down at the table. Seven months pregnant she still insisted on going to class and working and simply _had _to cook dinner at least once a week.

"Why don't you back off of classes this semester? You can take them next semester and that way you can miss a couple of weeks before you give birth and after. You aren't exactly going to be ready to go to class an hour after you give birth. Plus you'll have to spend time with the twins in their first weeks in this world."

"Well then I'll just be less stressed when I go to school next semester and take care of them. This way it stays evened out. I can spend the time I'm not able to sleep, because they wake me up, studying."

"You make no sense. And are you sure you want to move into student housing? You can always just stay here," Lanie said eyeing the boxes that were packed up in the living room. Kate had been in the process of moving out for a couple of weeks, but with her growing stomach she wasn't able to move as fast.

"Then where would the twins sleep. No I'll be fine. This way I can have my own room and they can have their own room. By the time they need separate rooms I won't be able to get student housing because I'll have graduated."

"Do you still want to join the force?"

"Yes. I know that it will be difficult because I'll have young children but I can use daycare and sitters and spend time with them on my off days. Trust me I have it all thought out."

"Well not all of it. You have two more months until they're here, you have to make time to go clothes shopping!" Lanie started again.

"Okay I don't have any classes on Saturdays and I think I could spare a few hours from packing up my stuff to move to go shopping, but only a few hours!" Kate finished loudly to compensate for Lanie's squeals.

"Wow there's a large selection," Kate said as they came into the Babies R Us closest to Lanie's apartment.

"How much stuff were you planning on getting?" Lanie asked going over to a rack of newborn sized onesies.

"I was hoping to get all of the stuff I'd need after they're out of me and in the real world. You know like at the hospital," Kate looked around her and sighed, "I should have made a list."

"Oh we'll think of everything, here just do what I do. Think of it in order of necessity: So you've just given birth and now what do you need for them?" Lanie started.

"They need diapers and something to wear," Kate said pushing the cart they had picked up over to the diaper section. She picked up a large pack of newborn size diapers and paused for a second. "What about when they need to change?"

"Ah ah. Not so fast, in order," Lanie said steering her over to the clothes section.

"Lanie we'll just keep going back and forth," Kate complained.

"You were just saying this morning you wanted to get more exercise! Come on in order," Lanie said as they approached the newborn sized onesie rack again. Kate sighed and looked through the onesies, paying special attention to the size since she was on a budget. Lanie helped her shuffle through the onesies picking up one that was blue and covered in planes, imitating the sky. "This one is cute," she said holding it up so Kate could see.

Kate flipped over the price tag and smiled "Yeah it is, and affordable. Throw it in the cart." Lanie threw it in and continued helping Kate look. Kate picked up one covered in a flowery print. "What about this one?"

"Yeah, that's nice. Well we have the hospital clothes covered. Do you want to keep looking or can we move on to something else?"

"No let's pick up a few more, plus don't newborns have to cover their heads? I mean every baby picture I've ever seen the kid has a hat on its head."

"Better safe than sorry," Lanie said walking over to the shelf with all of the miniature hats. "You keep looking through onesies I'll work on the hats. Also we'll need to get blankets."

"Oh you're right. We'll work on that later." They continued to browse in silence, throwing newfound items that fit the budget into the cart. Much to Kate's dismay they did end up walking around the store at least three times to get everything they needed. They got everything even down to the cribs, mobiles, and carriers.

"Are you sure you can pay for all of this?" Lanie asked concerned as they got closer to the cash register.

"Yeah, you know how I've been saving money from my paychecks since I found out I was pregnant? Most of the money has had to go to the doctor but I still have some that I can use for this stuff. Plus I had a rainy day fund that I had to raid and it had all of the money I had saved since high school. It paid for the first doctor's appointments. I'll be fine, I already paid for the first semester for my student housing and food. I don't know what I'll do about furniture but I'll deal with that when I have to. I think my dad has some old furniture in a storage unit he said I was welcome to when I transferred to NYU."

"If you say so," Lanie said unconvinced as she looked over everything in the cart.

They paid and then went out to the parking lot, they had thankfully driven Lanie's car. It didn't get used a lot but on trips like these it was useful. They got everything loaded, eventually. Kate attempted to help but upon doctor's orders she wasn't able to lift anything too heavy. It took a nearby father to get the cribs loaded but they did it. Kate was rather satisfied with their shopping. Now she knew she would be prepared for the twins. Well there was still the matter of assembling the cribs but she could cross that bridge when she came to it.

* * *

_**A/N: **__So I covered a lot of time with this chapter. And covered some stuff like names and all. And in case it wasn't clear yes Kate is going to move out since the school year has started but she is just moving a little slower now and it will probably take a couple of weekends before she can get everything moved into the new dorm/ apartment. Also about names, some people had said that they didn't want a mini Kate named Johanna but honestly what else would she want to name her daughter. I included Lanie as the middle name because she has been SO helpful to Kate through all of this stuff. I didn't want to have the names completely identical to her parents though, hence Jo and James instead of Johanna and Jim. And about her dad, he will come into the picture. According to the show he didn't sober up until 5 years after her mom's murder and I'm trying to keep some things canon so I don't think he will completely come into the picture until the twins are five so it will be five years after the murder. And all of the stuff about what he would be like is true; I have experience with an alcoholic so I know how they act. Of course maybe all of them don't act the same but, generally the description I gave is fairly accurate. To those of you who were wondering about Castle: ALL OF THE COP AND CASTLE STUFF AND EVERYTHING IS COMING! BEAR WITH ME. I HAVE TO ESTABLISH STUFF FIRST. Thank you for reading and reviewing and I hope you enjoy this chapter. **Also Pele and Beckham are soccer players so I thought using them as names for the twins when they're kicking a ton was appropriate**_


End file.
